Episode 8

**Warning this review contains spoilers, please watch the episode before reading. This episode once again brings us back to the circumstances that put this story into motion. The second social ritual from our lesbian wedding subplot: the bachelorette party. Instead of enduring obligatory congratulations and drinking boring wine, Casey and Jeri jump head first into body shots and plastic cups. One thing that I noticed on the second watch is that Jeri has no screen time. (We do see her briefly in the background of the opening conversing with Ona.) Is she hanging out with Laura, who is also cut down to a small ten seconds of screen time? Hopefully the two of them will get featured in the next episode. What little screen time Laura does have seems wasted, but I’ll get to that in a minute.

The opening sequence of irresponsible drinking is a great set up, and the club-like music adds another level. But like in previous episodes of LESlieVILLE, the score has a higher function. When Sera and Gwen start making out, with both them having way too many drinks to make informed decisions, the same music turns up. The score in this scene increases in volume, to indicate Gwen and Sera lost in the moment, but the music’s genre translates too: reckless, sloppy, and dangerous. In this scene it’s hard to tell whether Gwen is taking advantage of Sera’s stormy mood, as she does seem to have had a few drinks. But this kiss, along with the second, is where Sera breaks away from the straight-man character. Instead of having everything happen to her, and Sera simply serving her character type with reaction, she is now the one instigating action. This carries over even more with Sera’s second make out session. (How many beers did this woman have?) As Sera is the first to say something, and Ona becomes the straight man with her reaction. One important thing to note with the score during Sera and Ona’s kiss is that is changes, just like the kiss does, to something more soft, sincere, and romantic. After that, the soundtrack dies down and we’re back to focusing on the subtle expressions on Ona and Sera’s faces.

Now going back to Laura’s screen time that I mentioned above. Laura makes a good entrance in terms of timing, but she’s incredibly oblivious. With her character being a little stereotypical, not to mention egotistical, we don’t know anything about her. The viewer doesn’t know Laura’s motivations. Laura lacks depth, and we all dislike her in spite of such little screen time. Assuming that the actress that plays her has skill, there’s so much more that could be done with Laura. At the moment she’s just a plot device.

It would be good to get Laura’s story, because we know everyone else’s even Gwen’s. Having an episode, or even half an episode telling us more about Laura wouldn’t be difficult. The web series medium has the advantage with short episodes, sometimes series will make single episode out of one scene. Out With Dad [hyperlink] did this in their Second Season with Episode 9. Jill and Jill Went Up the Hill… definitely ups the ante on the story so far. All the dynamics have gotten a lot more complicated, and after this bachelorette party nothing will be the same.